


Sea Dances

by HomuraBakura



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fantasy elements, Flirting With Swords, Magical Creature!Asuka, Navy Captain!Kaito, Pirate Queen!Asuka, Pirates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-22 22:27:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8303479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HomuraBakura/pseuds/HomuraBakura
Summary: Ever since the mysterious pirates appeared one day and threatened the Arc Core, a mysterious power that is said to keep the demons at bay, newly promoted navy captain Kaito has been locked in a cycling dance as he chases after the mysterious pirate queen, wondering what it is, exactly that makes him so desperate to catch her.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [timahina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/timahina/gifts).



> gah so I don't really know what I was doing with the world building here but uh, I hope you still like it Tima <3

The quiet was a good sign, but it _grated_ like nails on a chalkboard.

Kaito Tenjo pressed both hands to the table, smoothing out the map under his fingers. It was starting to fray along the edges, and it was covered in quill marks and scratches from his notes and additions. He would really need to get a new one soon before this one started to come apart at the seams.

The breeze tickled playfully at the map edges, and he lifted his eyes automatically. The sea stretched out before him, just over the railings of his ship. Only the faint sound of the waves lapping at the bottom of the boat filled the space; even his crew was remarkably silent save for the soft thumps of feet and crates as they moved supplies around and kept busy maintaining the ship. It was a clear, calm day, the sails rolled up against the mast with no strong winds to fill them. Not a cloud scarred the sky, making the world one giant sphere of blue all around. He could see in all directions for miles, not that there was anything to see except water, sky, and more water.

He felt his lip curling slightly. _Too quiet_. That was supposed to be the good sign, the sign that she wasn't near. But it felt too easy to him. The conditions were too perfectly in his favor. Visibility too good, the calm too welcome, the quiet too relaxing. He couldn't let down his guard.

“Captain, we're going to be laying anchor while we wait for the calm spell to pass.”

Kaito's gaze flickered only briefly to Kurosaki's face where it peered over the top of the ladder.

“Replenishing our food supplies, I'd guess?” Kaito said.

Kurosaki nodded. Kaito ground his teeth briefly at how useless it all seemed; they had been at sea for almost four weeks now without a single sight of her, and they were starting to run low on supplies. They did what they could to fish, but that wasn't going to last them either. Eventually he'd have to turn around, empty-handed like the last five times.

But it couldn't be helped. He sighed as he nodded back to Kurosaki and rolled his map back up.

“Get to it, then. Double check that Allen isn't sleeping up in the crow's nest, either. I don't want us to miss anything.”

Kurosaki simply saluted once and then disappeared back down the ladder to the lower deck. Kaito folded the map back up and tucked it back inside his jacket. His gaze blurred a little as he let his mind wander ever so slightly. His fingers fumbled with the buttons of the jacket as he sealed it back up. It was so stiff, he thought absently. No amount of wear ever made the starched navy coat feel any less stifling.

Not for the first time...he wondered what he was even doing here. How had he gotten here, standing on the top of the _HMS Cipher_ in a navy uniform with a captain's hat? Under different circumstances, he should have been back at the university, finishing his studies to become a scientist like his late father. That was before the pirates had appeared out of nowhere, before they had attempted to steal the royal family's treasure, the mysterious and ancient Arc Core that fueled the intricate warding spells that kept the demons of old at bay. Before the king had declared a state of emergency, and every teenager with the hands to hold a sword was drafted into the service of protecting the Arc Core, and the very fabric of reality itself. Before he had been forced into the draft.

Forced Kaito to come into contact with _her_.

. . .

_He is just a little too small for the newly issued uniform and he tugs at the sleeves irritably, trying to find a way to get the sleeves rolled up over his hands._

“ _Don't twitch like that,” his superior officer snaps. “Stand at attention.”_

 _Irritation roils in his stomach, but he lets his hands fall to his sides and doesn't speak. He doesn't even want to be here. What horrible streak of luck to have just turned eighteen when the draft for the war against the pirate lords began....it's not that he_ doesn't _want to protect his country from them, not that he_ doesn't _want to fight for the safety of his people and the royal family, but does he have to do it as a soldier?_

_His ears twitch, and he blinks._

_What...what is that sound?_

“ _Sir?” he says, glancing at the superior officer that stands at guard duty with him. “Do you hear that?”_

“ _Be_ quiet _,” the man snaps. “What part of silent duty don't you understand?”_

_It's a sort of...humming. Like the pull of a bow across the strings of a violin that never changes note. It's getting louder—where is coming from?_

“ _No, but_ sir _, I hear—”_

_It's not until the pain blossoms over his cheek and he hits the deck on his knees that he realized that the man has just struck him._

“ _I won't be spoken back to, boy! You're barely even a private—”_

_The humming reaches a head and Kaito can swear that his brain is about explode from the sound never releasing, more than even the pain in his cheek._

_Then there's a thunk, and the sound stops immediately._

_Kaito gapes as his officer freezes....then slowly, slowly keels over, falling face first to the ground at Kaito's feet._

_Where the man was standing moments ago, a girl stands silently. Her blade is held backwards in her hand—she has hit the man with the pommel, knocking him out. Eyes glint in the torchlight as they flicker up to meet Kaito's eyes._

_Then she smiles._

“ _You all right?” she says cheerfully. “He didn't seem very friendly at all.”_

_Kaito can't speak for a moment. Who is this girl? What was the humming sound? And what..._

“ _No need to thank me or anything,” the girl says, as though Kaito had spoken. Her laugh sounds like music. “Anyway if you'll excuse me, I need to get in here.”_

_She steps casually over the unconscious body to the door that Kaito has been helping to guard—behind those doors, the commander of the navy is meeting with the prince to discuss tactics._

_That's when it hits Kaito._

_The ragged jacket, the dented blade, the mussed hair and overly casual way of holding the sword—she's one of the pirates._

_He swears as he jumps to his feet, grabbing his sword from his own belt and sweeping it out in front of her to block her from the door. She blinks, looking down at the sword, and then back up at him._

“ _Sorry,” she says with a sigh. “I didn't want to fight you, you know.”_

“ _I can't let you get in there,” he says._

“ _I know,” she says, looking almost sad._

_Her sword sweeps up towards him and he raises his own to block, blades tangling as they catch the hint of the firelight._

. . .

“You're making the face again.”

He rolled his eyes, still lost in his thoughts at the moment.

“What face would that be?”

“The one that means you're thinking about me~”

All at once Kaito came back to himself. He swore as he whipped around—

There she was, sure enough, perched on the railing behind him, her head resting in the cup of her hand. She was a lanky figure, with her long legs accentuated by the knee high boots that clung to her calves and a long, rich coat in deepest blue that hung open to show off the unnecessary frills and ruffles of her blouse. She was wearing a hat this time, a big black one with too many feathers poked into the top, perched lopsided on top of her long blonde hair.

She grinned at him, hazel eyes sparkling as though she hadn't just appeared out of _nowhere_ , with not the hint of a ship anywhere for _miles_.

Kaito went for his sword, ripping it free and swing it up in an arc. Almost lazily, she flicked her free hand up and caught his blade on hers—he hadn't noticed, in the heat of the moment, that she had already drawn it and had it laying across her knees.

“Where the hell did you come from?” he said. He hadn't heard it—hadn't heard even a hint of the sound that usually heralded her arrival.

She actually laughed, looking remarkably pleased with herself.

“Wouldn't you just love to know,” she said.

He tried to shove forward, to knock her off balance and send her into the ocean, but she leaped up to her feet with the lithe grace of a dancer, dancing along the railing as their swords screeched against each other. He opened his mouth to shout, to let the rest of the crew know that she was here and her crew _couldn't_ be far behind, but then he heard the _hum_.

The next thing he knew, he heard swears, the clash of metal, and his eyes flickered back down into the lower deck to see that his crew was already locked in battle—where had they all come from? And where was the ship??

His lapse in attention was all she needed to get the upper hand. Her sword twisted against his and he swore as she hooked it free from his grip, tossing it into the air and catching it easily so that now she was wielding both blades. He clenched his jaw. Goddamn—he had let her get the best of him again.

He backed up as she hopped lightly from the railings and onto the deck.

“What are you here for?” Kaito said.

“Just saying hello,” she said, shrugging.

“If you're looking for the coordinates of where the Arc Core has been moved, you won't find it here.”

The flicker across her eyes told him that that was exactly what she had come to check for.

“Ah, well,” she said, with a sigh, leaning one blade back over her shoulder. “It was worth a shot. And I got to see you again.”

“What is your _problem_?” he said through grit teeth. “Why do you keep following me?”

“Why are you following _me_?” she said, tilting her head with a smile.

. . .

_She twists the blade under his and pops it free, far more skilled than an untrained pirate has any right to be against a trained navy private. She moves so quickly, so gracefully, that he can't see where one of her moves ends and the other begins. He makes a bid to grab his sword back, but she kicks him in the chest, sending him stumbling down to his knees. Before he can move again, both his blade and hers are crossed over each other on either side of his neck. He freezes. Any second, he expects the steel to cut into his skin, to end him—gods, how had he lost so easily?_

_But the pain never comes. In the faint light of the torches, he can just see the outlines of her face, the glimmer of her eyes._

“ _Why are you fighting on this side?” she asks._

“ _What?”_

“ _You look like a smart kid. And you could hear me coming. So why are you over here?”_

_What does him hearing the humming have to do with anything?_

“ _You're threatening us,” Kaito says through grit teeth. “You're trying to take the Arc Core—you're putting the world at risk.”_

_She blinks, as though that isn't the answer she was expecting to hear. He can hear the stomp of boots inside the strategy room, and he knows that he's made at least enough noise to gain their attention—he's sure the commander and the prince can handle one little girl. Her eyes flicker back over shoulder, and her lip curls ever so slightly._

“ _You might as well kill me now,” he spits. “Or else I'll hunt you down, and every single one of your kind for putting the people I care about in danger.”_

_Her eyes come back to him, and all at once, her expression is unreadable. And then all at once, she leans in, her eyes inches from his. He wants to flinch but her blades are still at his neck, so he can only sit there while her breath tickles warm against his skin. He feels a heat rising to his face—why is she so close? And why is...why is his heart racing..._

_But the swords come away from his neck, and she backs off._

“ _I guess that just makes us rivals in this war then,” she says, a smile growing over her lips. “Come and find me again, if you can.”_

_She hops up onto the railing as the door opens, and light spills out. He can see her clearly then, her hair shining gold in the sudden light, eyes like molten caramel. She smiles at him, and salutes with the sword she's stolen. The light is radiant as it reflects off her skin and he thinks, for just a moment, that she looks like an angel._

“ _I'm Asuka,” she says. “I hope I see you again.”_

_He struggles to his feet, but then she's dropping, falling backwards, and when he staggers to the railing and peers over into the dark ocean, there is nothing to be seen._

_Only the afterimage of her radiant shape, and the warm feeling of her breath against his face remain._

. . .

“You're their leader,” he said coldly. “Asuka Tenjoin—the self proclaimed pirate queen. Of course our resources are pointed towards you.”

“Yes, but you seem to keep volunteering to be the one that comes after me,” she said. She still advanced on him, pushing him back until he was pressed against the opposite railing. The tip of her blade flashed out against the edge of his throat, and he almost snarled—once more, she'd gotten the better of him.

“You'd better just kill me this time,” he said. “Or I'll keep hunting you.”

Asuka smiles, and yet, there's isn't a hint of condescending or gloating in there. It seems...genuine.

“But then our game would be over,” she said. “Where's the fun in that?”

“You think this fight is a game?” Kaito snarled. “You think putting everyone's lives in the entire world is a game? You're fighting for destruction of the world, and you call it game?”

Her hand reached out then, and he almost flinched before her fingers touched his skin, cupping gently around the side of his face and neck. Her hands were cold, pearly and cool against his skin as though she were made of some living metal. Her eyes were unreadable, and for a moment...alien.

“I never fought for destruction,” she whispered, and he could hear it again, then, that musical hum at the back of his mind. His throat felt dry—electricity seemed to crackle through him from her touch.

“What...what are you fighting for them?” he found himself whispering.

Her voice sounded like the sea itself when she leaned forward to whisper into his ear.

“Freedom.”

She leaned back away from him, her blade still trained at his throat to keep him from making any sudden moves. He felt a chill running down his spine—a chill that he didn't...necessarily dislike.

“What do you think the Arc Core was made to keep bound?” she said.

“The demons who almost destroyed the world,” Kaito said. “You're trying to release them.”

“We're only trying to release ourselves.”

“Release...?”

He wasn't sure if he imagined it or not, but for a moment, he thought...he thought her skin flickered, as though it were transparent glass, as though there were ocean underneath her skin. He thought for a moment that he saw her eyes turn to full black, alien, ancient, and...

_Beautiful._

But whatever he sees, it's gone in a flash, gone so quickly that he must have imagined it. She sighed.

“Well, if what we're looking for isn't here, then I'm sorry to have bothered you,” she said.

She whistled once through her teeth, a strange, melodious sound. Kaito's eyes flicked to the deck, and he saw the other pirates immediately falling back, sloughing off the deck like ants, scurrying away and disappearing over the sides of the boat—disappearing as mysteriously as ever.

But Asuka didn't move right away.

“You really should just kill me,” he said. “Or I'll be sure to kill you the next time we meet.”

Asuka laughed softly.

“I'm not a murderer, Kaito,” she said. “But, you know...pirates are supposed to be thieves. I really should be claiming something of a prize for every time I've beaten you.”

He opened his mouth to say something else, but whatever it was, he forgot it immediately.

Because she was leaning up and pressing her own lips against his mouth.

If her hands were cold, her lips were not—her breath was warm as it tangled with his, as she pressed into him. She tasted like salt water and copper and the faintest hint of cinnamon, and—and he was leaning back into the kiss, almost without trying, his eyes closing as all that existed in that moment was her, the taste of her and the feeling of her hand pressed against his chest and the thrum of his own pulse against her other hand that cupped his neck.

She broke away almost before he realized it, and his eyes took a second to open. She smiled at him as she hopped back, leaving both swords on the ground at his feet.

“That will have to do for now, I guess,” she said. “I'll steal something a little more valuable next time.”

“W-wait,” Kaito said, his voice catching in his throat, feeling suddenly thick and husky.

But she was already leaping up on the other railing and balancing there with that same old grace, looking back over her shoulder at him.

“For a human, you're fascinating,” she said. “I wish I knew why.”

He bolted forward, but she was already falling, and by the time he reached the railing and leaned over, she had vanished. The humming at the back of his mind vanished as well.

“Captain! Captain, are you all right? We—”

Kaito didn't listen as Kurosaki scrambled up on to the deck towards him, his eyes still fixed on the ocean below.

He pressed two fingers to his lips, and a heat blossomed from there all down through his entire body.

“I'll win next time,” was all he could whisper.

He almost thought, for a moment, that he heard the ocean laughing in response.

 


End file.
